Winklevoss Twins Drop U.S. Supreme Court Appeal Over Facebook Dispute

By Joel Rosenblatt -
Jun 23, 2011

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, former
Harvard University classmates of Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg, said they won’t ask the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a
settlement of their claims that Zuckerberg stole the idea for
the world’s most popular social-networking site.

The Winklevoss twins said last month they would appeal a
lower-court ruling that left the 2008 accord intact. Their
lawyers said in a filing yesterday at the U.S. Court of Appeals
in San Francisco that “after careful consideration, they have
determined that they will not file a petition” with the
nation’s highest court.

The brothers lost a bid in May to get a full appeals court
review. They argued that a three-judge panel erred in April when
it dismissed their claims that the settlement should be voided
because it was procured through fraud.

They alleged that Palo Alto, California-based Facebook
didn’t disclose an accurate valuation of its shares before they
agreed to the $65 million cash and stock settlement. The appeals
court ruled that the accord barred future lawsuits and was
“quite favorable” to the twins.

Andrew Noyes, a spokesman for Facebook, said yesterday
“We’ve considered this case closed for a long time, and we’re
pleased to see the other party now agrees.”

In a separate lawsuit in federal court in Boston, the
Winklevoss twins are seeking to uncover whether Facebook and
Zuckerberg “intentionally or inadvertently suppressed
evidence,” according to a court filing in that case today. The
complaint in Boston also claims Zuckerberg stole the brothers’
idea for Facebook.